Intro to Film Theories

{ Unit 2
 History of Film Theory
 Film theory began in the 1920s because
filmmakers wanted to understand film
elements and how they could make their own
films more meaningful and effective.
 Early film theory analyzed camerawork and

editing.
 In the mid-1940s, film theory’s focus shifted

towards analyzing the way film could capture

reality.
 History of Film Theory
 In the 1960s, film theorists became influenced
by academic fields including psychology and
gender studies.
 As filmmaking entered the 1990s, film theorists

began analyzing the differences between films

made with new digital and old analog
technology.
 Fractured viewing habits have led modern film

theorists to study where and how society

experiences movies.
 Elements of Film Theory
 Film theory analyzes films by examining eight
key elements:
(1) Film Type:

Film theorists categorize films into three

main types:
(a) Realism
Showing an unfiltered and realistic
world. Uses natural lighting and often
nonprofessional actors, with minimal
editing and no special effects.
 Elements of Film Theory
(b) Classical:
Emphasizes authentic moments while
using creative production elements. Uses
professional lighting and actors, but
with little to no special effects and editing
only for time passing
(c) Formalism:
Showing an altered reality created by
the director. Uses professional actors, special
effects, creative lighting, and sound effects
Realism V Formalism
 Camera Shots
 Film theorists analyze how different camera shots
convey messages and moods. These shots include:
 Extreme close up

 Close up

 Medium shot

 Full shot

 Long shot or wide shot

 Extreme long shot or extreme wide shot

 Deep focus

 American shot

 Over the shoulder shot

 Point of view shot

Shot Composition
 Camera Angles
 Film theorists also examine the way camera
angles make viewers feel. Filmmakers can
manipulate their viewers’ emotions based on
the camera angles they choose. The four main
camera angles are:
 Eye-level
 High angle

 Low angle

 Oblique angle
 Lighting
 A film’s lighting can also create mood.
 Comedy typically uses high-key lighting to set a

light-hearted mood.
 The low-key lighting of film noir sets a much

darker, more intense mood.

 Blending lighting styles can create new moods.

 Film theorists recognize the following lighting

types:
 Lighting
 High-key lighting
 Low-key lighting
 Chiaroscuro lighting
 Silhouette/black lighting
 Color
 Film theorists recognize the impact of two
main kinds of film color:

 Saturated: Vivid color used for fantasy,

romance, and conveying happiness

 Desaturated: Muted color used for dystopian

films and conveying depression and struggle
 Sound
 Sound is another key element that film theorists
analyze. There are two key types of film sound:

 Diegetic: The sounds characters could hear

because their source is onscreen or offscreen
and part of the film’s action. This includes
character voices and the sounds of props and
instruments in the film.

 Nondiegetic: The sounds characters do not hear

because they occur outside the narrative. This includes
narration and a film’s score.
Sound in Movies
 Editing
 Film editing goes unnoticed by many people,
because it’s intended to make a story flow.
 However, film theorists understand the ways

the following editing types impact films:

 Continuity: Collapses space and time while

maintaining fluidity
 Radical subjective continuity: Dramatically

cuts shots in different times and spaces

 Editing
 Classical: Dramatically jumps from
long shot to medium shot to close up
 Thematic: Cuts shots to show a

common theme
 Dialectic: Cuts shots to show a

contradiction
 Associative: Juxtaposes two shots to

create a shared meaning

 Mis-en-Scene
 Mise-en-scene is a French term meaning “placed on
the stage.”
 It refers to the items in front of the camera and how

they’re arranged.
 Common terms used to describe mise-en-scene

include:
 Placement around frame
 Face to camera (quarter turn, half turn, three quarter
turn, full turn, back)
 Territorial space (background, midground,
foreground)
 Frame constraints (tight for intensity, open for
showing desolation or freedom)
 How To Read A Film

 Film theorists read films by paying

attention to the choices that directors,
cinematographers, editors, and other
creatives make.
 These choices help convey a film’s message

and arouse emotions in viewers.

 Understanding films
 Why film theory matters
 Film theory matters because it helps us understand
the films we watch on a deeper level.
 Through film theory, we understand individual

films and their relation to others made by the same

creatives, in the same time or place, or of the same
genre.
 We also understand how different film movements

and creatives influenced one another.

 Spielberg